Guard-rail or foot-guard for railway-frogs



(No Model.) I v 1. 13. BOWES & L. 1'1. HARRIS.

GUARD RAIL QR FOOT GUARD FOR RAILWAY BR0113- NoK 444,518. Patented Jan. 13, 1891.

.m N w a Z w \\V/ F m wz m 0 a a E B lowing is a full, clear, and exact description of UNITED STATES JOHN E. BOWES AND LORENZO II.

PATENT OFFICE.

IIARRIS, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444,518, dated January 13, 1891.

7 Application filed October 18, 1890. Serial No. 368,543- (No model.)

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN E. BOWES and LORENZO H. HARRIS, both of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guard-Rails or Foot-Guards for Railway Frogs; and we do hereby declare that the folthe invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

It is well known that frogs and guard-rails as generally constructed have proved very dangerous, and that the loss of life caused by ones foot being caught in them is not only great, but is constantly increasing.

Our invention aims to prevent this destruction of human life;v and to that end it consists in an improved and special construction of the guard-rail or foot-guard, whereby they are rendered free of all such dangerous features. The wood filling or blocking now very generally employed for guard-rails and frogs seems to have lessened the evil very little, it at all, because in most instances such filling is insecure, either from not being properly constructed or not being properly fitted to the place it is to occupy, and being nailed to the ties the constant jar caused by passing trains soon works it loose and the top or tread (sometimes called the ball of the rail forms also a similar trap or stumbling block for pedestrians.

Our improvements will be readily understood from the following description and from the drawings accompanying the same, in which- Figure 1 shows a side view of a rail having a piece cut out of one end of its web preparatory to bending down its top or tread; Fig. 2, a plan of our improved guard-rails and frog, and Fig. 3 a cross-section of the same and through the fillings; Fig. 4, a partial view in elevation, and Fig. 5 a form of the filling when not made solid.

From the web a of a rail or rails B we cut out a piece a nearly triangular, so as to open a space d in the web, which resembles nearly a long right-angled triangle, but which, however, in the line 1 2, which subtends the right angle, is preferably gently arched, so that the portion a of the ball or tread from which the Web has thus been cut oif may be suitably bent down on and over the edge 1 2 of the cut web and so as to meet or nearly meet the bottom or fiangef of the rail. The filling G may be of iron or of wood or other material, and the drop of this filling is made to conform in shape to the top or ball of the rail, so as to make it impossible for the foot to be caught between the rails, the filling reaching .up to and occupying the space heneath the inner edges of the tops or balls of the adjacent rails and of the rails and adjacent frog, as shown, and being, except at its downwardly-curved ends, substantially flush with such edges. This filling is to be securely fastened in position by means of any ordinary bolts h, and which should pass entirely through both the rails and the filling, thus firmly holding it in every direction, it being prevented from escape or from projecting at its ends by the downwardly-bent part at of the tread and from rising upward not only by the bolts, but also by the rail tops or balls.

In bending down the tread of the end of the guard-rail it is not necessary to weld it, as there is no particular or appreciable strain upon it, but the shape of it is such as to preclude the possibility of the foot being caught, while anything that might previously have. been caught by the pilot or by the truck and by it dragged along would easily pass over it in comparative safety and without damage to the frogs, guard-rails, or any other parts.

WVe claim 1. A guard-rail or foot-guard for railwayfrogs, having a portion of its web cut out be tween its tread and the end of its flange, as set forth, and having such'part of its tread bent down on the web to or near the flange, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In combination with a railway-frog, a guard-rail or foot-guard having a part of its web cut away and its tread bent down on the edge of such cut web, and afilling applied and secured to the rail and frog, all substantially as set forth.

JOHN E. BOWES. LORENZO I-I. HARRIS.

Witnesses RUssELL P. GOODWIN, E. T. PRINDLE. 

